Top baboos to help PM select secretaries

ISLAMABAD: Top bureaucrats – Cabinet secretary, Establishment secretary and principal secretary to the PM – will recommend a panel of three most suitable officers for the appointment of federal secretaries.

Informed sources said that the first civil service reform item, prepared by the task force led by Dr Ishrat Husain and discussed by the federal cabinet on Thursday, pertains to the procedure of federal secretaries’ appointment and their tenure.

The cabinet discussed the proposal and referred it to a five-member cabinet committee to deliberate on the proposal and submit its report for reconsideration of the federal cabinet.

Sources said that Dr Ishrat Husain recommended that in case of the appointment of federal secretaries, the three-member committee comprising cabinet and establishment secretaries and principal secretary to the PM should be assigned to prepare the panel of three officers for prime minister. The premier can appoint any of the three officers recommended for the post by the committee.

However, in case the prime minister does not find any officer included in the panel fit for the post, the committee will recommend a new panel. The reform proposal does not give the PM the authority to appoint on his own any officer as secretary of any ministry or division.

Once the prime minister appoints secretary of a division, the officer will be considered on probation for six months and during this period, the secretary could be removed or changed. However, after the completion of six months’ probation period, the secretary will have the protection of three-year tenure.

Once the officer has been selected through this process he/she should not be transferred until the completion of the tenure i.e. three years, according to the reform proposal. However, in cases where a disciplinary action is initiated against the officer for corruption, negligence of duties, insubordination, misconduct or failure to meet the performance targets assigned to him/her etc and evidence has been established, the prime minister can decide that the officer should be moved out of the office before completing the posting tenure. While making such transfers, reasons must be written on the file.

Dr Ishrat Husain even in his previous work on civil service reforms had underlined the important of security of tenure and noted that one of the most important problems facing bureaucracy is the frequent transfer of civil servants. This undermines service delivery because managers are often not able to stay in place enough to institute or sustain reforms.

Previously, in one of his reports Dr Ishrat Husain had pointed out that important initiatives of the government and the policies, programmes and projects could not be implemented within the stipulated time or within the projected cost envelope because of the lack of continuity in the tenures of key civil servants.